Luis Colon Off Board

Luis Colon thought long and hard about staying close to home after an ACC put forth a late scholarship offer. However, the unsigned senior big man opted to leave Miami to play his college ball.

New Kansas State coach Bob Huggins held off an 11th-hour surge from Miami to land unsigned 6-foot-10, 250-pound senior big man Luis Colon.

"We came to a decision last night," Miami Tropics coach Art Alvarez said. "We made a decision, it was a tough one. We felt that Kansas State was the right fit for him basketball-wise and it would give him an opportunity to play next to Jason Bennett as a power forward."

Just two days before Colon was set to make a decision, Miami coach Frank Haith offered a scholarship. With proximity and the thought of playing with close friends, Colon gave it a serious look.

"Miami was very intriguing because that's his hometown," Alvarez said. "Also the fact that he wanted to stay close to me and he wanted to play with Denis Clemente - a dear friend of his for years. That was a very intriguing situation for him."

Colon, who averaged 14 points and nearly 9 boards this past season at Miami (Fla.) Krop, enjoyed his visit to Manhattan, Kan., this past weekend.

"One of the things that he was excited about is the president of the university actually took him out to lunch," Alvarez said. "How many times do you have the president of a school take a recruit out to lunch? He saw that they take their basketball pretty seriously down at K-State."

The visit also allowed Colon to spend time with Huggins, which was what ultimately won him over.

"I think that just goes to show sometimes it's best to get the last visit," Alvarez said. "The visit and the attention that they showed him and the fact that they went out of their way to show how much they wanted him."

While the visit played a major role in his decision, according to Alvarez so did Jason Bennett. The 7-foot-3 center and Colon have been teammates for three years and have developed chemistry on and off the court.